Let It Be by The Beatles

Well, what can you say about The Beatles that hasn't already been said?
For that reason, i'll presume that you already have a good idea about the history of probably the biggest and most famous band in the world? If you don't, then you're probably either too young, or have been living in the wilderness for most of your life.

"Let It Be" was released on 6th March 1970 and unsurprisingly went to number 1 in the UK charts and stayed there for 3 weeks. It was the last proper single release before The Beatles finally split up. The B Side is "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number).
"Let It Be" does, of course, come from the album of the same name, released in May 1970.

The single version is a different mix to that on the album. In fact "Let It Be" has now been released in several different versions, apart from these two. There are also versions from the "Let It Be... Naked" album and also on the "Anthology" series of albums.

As with all later releases by The Beatles, "Let It Be" was on the "Apple Records" label.

One of the beauties of old vinyl records, is that there was the possibility of having different artwork on either side of the actual record. Releases on the Apple label were a good example of this and "Let It Be" is no exception. As can be seen from this image of the flip side:

Apple Records was a part of the wider "Apple Corps"  group. The name is apparently meant to be a pun. Maybe this is why the B Side shows an image of an apple core?

As you can see from the photo above, i didn't actually buy "Let It Be" until 21st November 1974. It was the 147th vinyl single that i ever bought.
As i've mentioned before, i wasn't able to buy many records until 1974, due to the financial constraints of being a young teenager. I started work in July of 1974 and my record buying days then started in earnest.

Although i didn't buy records by The Beatles when they were together as a band, i was certainly aware of them. Who wasn't? In fact they were one of the first bands that i can ever remember seeing on the tv.
I don't know what the song was and suspect that it would have been one from fairly late in their career, maybe even "Let It Be"? But, i do remember seeing them on the BBC show "Top of the Pops". A tv show that i've mentioned here before and one that was essential viewing for any discerning tenager back then.
I also remember seeing Jimi Hendrix on Top of the Pops too.

One of the reasons that seeing The Beatles sticks in my mind though, is because i vividly recall my father moaning about the length of the bands hair! He probably then added something about them all needing a damned good haircut too.
This comment obviously had little effect on me, as only a few years later i had grown my hair even longer than The Beatles had had it on that day.

In common with many other people, The Beatles have always been a favourite band of mine. Right up there in the Top 10, if not Top 5.
Their music has been a constant throughout my life, possibly more so than any other band i can think of. After all, their first release "Love Me Do" came out in 1962, when i was just 4 years old. I have in some ways grown up with them and their music. It is still as popular and influential today as it has ever been. Both to myself and to the wider world.

The Beatles aren't remembered as the biggest band in the world for nothing though.
They existed as a record producing act for only 8 short years, if you discount all the subsequent compilations and re-issues that is. That is sometimes a hard statistic to take in.
But, those records still resonate today and are still bought in huge quantities and for very good reason too. And it's not just us older fans upgrading from vinyl to CD, or mp3 either. There have been whole new generations of Beatles fans throughout the past few decades and i know of many young people who still listen to and are influenced by The Beatles right now.

I still play those records regularly myself and they still sound as good as they ever did. In fact, listening to songs by The Beatles often makes me wonder if any band will ever top what The Beatles acheived? Personally, i don't think that will happen.
The Beatles were the right band, in the right place at the right time and they made full use of that. Obviously, there was also the small matter of having two brilliant songwriters amongst them and another just waiting in the wings for his own moment to shine. And let's not forget the part played by Brian Epstein and George Martin either.

But, due to the way that world has changed since 1962 and especially due to the advent of the digital age and all that it brings, i'm not sure that The Beatles could happen in quite the same way today?

Just think what we might be missing out on because of that?

PS: As if to reinforce the influence and effect that The Beatles still have today, i have just come across this article.

I Know What I Like - Genesis

Over here in the UK, there has been much said and written recently about the supposed return of Prog Rock. There is even a new magazine dedicated to all things Prog. A sure sign of a perceived revival if ever you needed one.

I'm not sure that Prog Rock ever really went away though. I personally think that it was just having a bit of a rest and biding its time, waiting for the right time to rise once again, capes and all.
It can't be denied though that there do seem to be far more bands, which could be classed as Prog Rock, around at the moment.
I've even noticed this trend in local music. Even if the local band might not class themselves as Prog, elements of their sound certainly hark back to that era.

All of which takes me way back to 1973 and the release of "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", (Don't forget the wardrobe), the first ever hit single from the band Genesis. The song reached number 21 in the UK charts in April 1974, even though it had been first released in August 1973. Hence the 1973 date on the record label.

I can see from the record sleeve that i bought the single on 8th June 1974.
At that time, just before i left school and started work, i could only afford to buy records periodically. I often used to buy singles that had left the charts and had then been put into the "bargain bin", therefore being sold at a reduced price. I remember a girlfriend of mine at the time commenting on how i always seemed to buy one single a week and always one from the bargain bin.
The fact that i bought this single and at that time, suggests that it was a favourite of mine.

"I Know What I Like" came from the Genesis album "Selling England By The Pound", which was released in October 1973. It reached number 3 in the UK album charts.

I was still a schoolboy at the time of the songs release and do remember hearing it on the radio.
I can still recall having a conversation about the song with my, then, next door neighbour. We were both of the same age, had similar tastes in music and would often discuss songs, or bands that we'd heard on the radio, or seen on the tv.
"I Know What I Like" was one of those songs, partly because of my friends older brother. He was an intelligent guy and had commented on the songs rather odd lyrics. Any song with the lyrics "Me, i'm just a lawnmower, you can tell me by the way i walk", is bound to grab the attention of a teenager i think?
But, it was the line, "There's a future for you in the fire escape trade. Come up to town", that grabbed my friends brother's attention. He seemed to think it referred to burglary and who am i to argue.
Does anyone know what that song is really about? I wouldn't be surprised if even Peter Gabriel himself couldn't fully explain it.

Genesis were at that time, signed to the Charisma label. One of many great, long lost record labels from that time and one that even included Monty Python on its books.
As with so many record labels back then, the artwork of the label itself was interesting to look at and instantly recognisable. Charisma featured, as you can see above, a drawing of the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit, all from Alice In Wonderland.

We often moan about the loss of record cover art since the emergence of the CD and now the mp3 and quite rightly so. The album sleeves of Genesis albums from this period being a good case in point. But, what is often overlooked is the artwork that used to be on the labels of the actual records themselves, such as Charisma's.

Something else that is now missing are the little messages and comments scratched into the vinyl itself. In the run out groove, between the playing surface and the label, were often to be found bits of writing. On "I Know What I Like" the A Side has "Porky knows why he likes Trishy" and the B Side has "Peko Melo" written into the vinyl.
These were done by George Peckham, also known as "Porky". His messages can be found scratched into the vinyl of countless singles and albums from the 1970's.
If you still own any vinyl from that time, go and have a look through your collection. You never know what secret messages might be lurking there.

As for Genesis.... well, we probably all know about the success that they went on to have. Much of which was possibly kick-started by this very first hit single and the subsequent media exposure that it gave the band.
After Peter Gabriel left Genesis in 1975, the band started to reinvent themselves and went on to have even greater success, especially during the 1980's. This is quite possibly because they moved away from Prog Rock and started writing more commercially sounding music?

Genesis are one of those bands that i've never had a big love affair with. Yes, i liked that early music of the Peter Gabriel era, but i'm not sure how much of it i would listen to now? And the later, more commercial, period i can either take, or leave.
As with many bands from that time, i bought some of their earlier albums, including "Selling England By The Pound". But i sold them during the great album clearout of the 1980's. Many of us did the same thing back then, often to our eternal regret. Only to start buying many of them, all over again, on a new fangled CD.

I did buy other Genesis singles during my youth and still have "The Carpet Crawlers" and "Counting Out Time" amongst my much reduced collection.
Another of their records that i used to own is an early single called "Happy The Man", complete with a picture sleeve, which was released in 1972 and didn't bother the UK charts at all.
How i came to own it is a story for another day, but that single is now quite a rarity.
Unfortunately, i sold it some years ago, albeit at a reasonable profit.

During the, previously mentioned, big vinyl clearout i spotted an advert in a record collecting magazine asking about "Happy The Man" and offering to buy any copies for the princely sum of £15. I thought this was a good offer and duly sold my copy. As i've already suggested, this was a pretty good return on my "investment" at the time.
I know you're ahead of me here, but i've since seen the same "Happy The Man" single, complete with picture sleeve, offered for sale for at least £80! Who knows, it might even have been my copy?
Makes you sick doesn't it?

I have often regretted selling many of my old vinyl albums and singles. But, i've regretted selling that one more than most and for obvious reasons too.

Walk On By by The Stranglers

I thought it would be rather appropriate if my next blog post in this series celebrated the work of Hal David, who died a few days ago.
Hal David, for the uninitiated, was the songwriting partner of Burt Bacharach. Hal David wrote the lyrics for many very well known songs during his long career, including "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" and "Do You Know The Way To San Jose".

I was originally thinking of including a different single by The Stranglers when i first composed a mental list of records to talk about here. My first thought was to use their first ever single "(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)", which i own and which got to the heady heights of number 44 in the UK charts in early 1977.
Maybe i'll get around to that one day?

But, due to the death of Hal David, i thought i'd include this single instead. It has always been a favourite of mine anyway and i love the way The Stranglers covered this classic song and really made it their own.

As you might be able to see from the photo above, i got this single free with The Stranglers 3rd album, Black And White. The 'Black and White' album was released in May of 1978 and got to number 2 in the UK album charts. It was their 3rd album release in 18 months! Can you imagine a band doing that now, except as a kind of gimmick?

The "Walk On By" single was given away free with the first 75,000 copies of the album and is in white vinyl. The A Side of the single is "Walk On By" itself and the B Side included two tracks, "Mean To Me" and "Tits".
 
"Walk On By" was originally a hit single for Dionne Warwick , for whom it was written, back in 1964 and reached number 8 in the UK charts.

Giving away free singles with albums was something that The Stranglers had done before and was done by other bands at that time as well. It was obviously a marketing ploy to get fans to rush out and buy the album as soon as it came out, in the hope of getting that freebie. Thereby increasing the chances of a high chart position the next week.
Limited edition coloured vinyl, or picture sleeves on singles were done for exactly the same reason. Some things you just can't replicate with an mp3 can you?

When i bought The Stranglers first album 'Rattus Norvegicus' in April, 1977, the first 10,000 copies also came with a free single. I own that one as well and who knows, that may feature here at some time too as there is a personal story behind that album.

During the earlier days of Punk Rock, The Stranglers often got a bit of a bad press. Partly, i think, because of the age of some of the members and also because their music did hark back, at least partially, to earlier days. They were even compared to The Doors at times, i seem to remember. They were also accused of playing too well and treated with suspicion by some.
The content of some of their lyrics didn't help them at times either.

Personally, i liked them as soon as i heard them. Maybe because they reminded me of bands that i was listening to anyway? So, i was buying their records from the moment they came out and continued to do so until the turn of the decade when their music went downhill, in my opinion anyway.
I still own many of those early vinyl singles. But, as is so often the case, not the albums.

I first heard about The Stranglers when i read an article in Sounds magazine around 1976. I can't be sure of the year, but the article and the bands name, stuck in my mind. It was comparing the way that two very different bands toured in the UK at that time. The two bands were Deep Purple and The Stranglers. I suspect that i remember the article because Deep Purple were a favourite band of mine and were still huge back then.
I remember that The Stranglers spoke of how they were travelling around the country to gigs in an old ice cream van. A far cry from the way that Deep Purple were travelling!

I saw The Stranglers live twice. Both times in 1977 and both times in Liverpool. And thereby hangs a tale and one to be told at a later date.
The first gig was at the famous 'Eric's' club on Sunday 19th June 1977. 'Eric's' was famously situated in Matthew Street, opposite where 'The Cavern Club' had stood. It was a great venue and one that i visited several times in 1977 and 1978.

The 'Eric's' gig actually took place on the Sunday lunchtime. The Stranglers played two shows at 'Eric's' that day. The second being in the evening. I remember that i couldn't go to the evening show as i had to catch a train back home that same afternoon.
The story at the time was that The Stranglers should have played the Empire Theatre in Liverpool that day. But, due to all the furore at that time over the Sex Pistols song "God Save The Queen", that gig was cancelled and replaced with two at 'Eric's' instead. This was right at the time of The Queens silver jubilee celebrations and many people were a little bit touchy.
I know where i would rather have seen The Stranglers and i'm very pleased that i got what i wanted. I remember it as being a good gig, although a little bit strange. After all, it was a Sunday lunchtime. Not the sort of time you expect to see a major Punk band in a small underground club.
One song from this gig that sticks in my mind was "London Lady" which includes the lyrics, "Have you ever been to Liverpool?" I seem to remember the crowd singing along to that bit.

My second Stranglers gig was on 14th October 1977, this time at Liverpool University. This was during the tour for The Stranglers 2nd album 'No More Heroes'.

All i can say about this gig is, what a difference a few months make.
Whereas the gig at 'Eric's' had been an intimate and very enjoyable affair, the gig at Liverpool University was a very different experience.
Punk Rock had become far more mainstream in those few months and the clothes worn by many in the, far bigger, crowd reflected this. I even saw girls using kettles as handbags!
There was also a hint of violence in the air at all times. Something that was missing at 'Eric's'. Sure, Punk music was aggressive and crowds could often be boisterous. But, there's a huge difference between being boisterous and being violent. Unfortunately, this was the shape of things to come at many Punk gigs in the coming months and years.

1977 was a pivotal year for many people and for many reasons.
As i've mentioned in another one of these posts, it certainly had an effect on me as well. 1978, when "Walk On By" was released was just a continuation of that.
The Stranglers played a part in all of that for me. They were the first Punk band that i saw live and one of the first whose music i bought and played. And i'm still happily playing that music today.
Maybe, i'm still a rebel at heart?

Stuck In The Middle With You by Stealers Wheel

"Stuck In The Middle With You" by the Scottish group Stealers Wheel reached number 8 in the UK charts in May 1973. It also got as high as number 6 in the U.S Billboard Hot 100 in the same year and sold over 1 million copies worldwide.
"Stuck In The Middle With You" was originally released on the bands self titled album in October 1972 and was produced by legendary songwriters and producers Leiber and Stoller.

Stealers Wheel were effectively songwriters Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan, who then worked with other musicians. Apart from working with Stealers Wheel, Joe Egan hasn't really had any other success. But, of course, Gerry Rafferty went on to have huge success in the late 1970's and early 80's with songs such as "Baker Street". Baker Street reached number 2 in the U.S Charts and number 3 in the UK.
Gerry Rafferty was also well known for being in a Scottish folk band called The Humblebums, which included amongst its members the future comedian Billy Connolly.

Stealers Wheel were by no means a one hit wonder, although none of their other singles, or albums, ever matched the success of "Stuck In The Middle With You'. Although i never bought any of their albums, i did used to own future hit singles "Everything Will Turn Out Fine" (1973) and "Star" (1974). I did have another single called "Late Again", which i still think is a great song, if you ever get the chance to hear it.

One of the things that i like about "Stuck In The Middle With You" and indeed other single releases on the old AandM record label from around this time, is the design on the sleeve.
I have no idea where the idea for the knife and fork design came from and what the thinking was behind it. But, i still think it looks great today.
My theory, for what it's worth, is that vinyl records were sometimes referred to as "platters" and a platter can also be a plate. Hence the knife, fork and plate design? The background even looks a little bit like a tablecloth, something that i've only just noticed!

Looking at the cover, i can see that i wasn't the first person to own this record.
There are two dates written onto the sleeve. One of them, 1st July 1974, was the date that i bought the record. But, there is another date, 9th June 1973, written in the top left hand corner of the sleeve. That date has been crossed out, probably by myself. I suspect that this was the date when the previous owner bought "Stuck In The Middle With You"? The date corresponds to when the single was in the UK charts after all.

Although, i honestly can't remember who i bought this single from, if indeed i did buy it. It may well have been a gift? I am pretty sure though that i got it from the older brother of a school friend of mine.
I know that i still have a few singles that i acquired from this friends brother. So, i suspect that "Stuck In The Middle With You', is another one.
My friends brother had the biggest collection of vinyl records that i'd ever seen at that time. Myself and a few other friends used to regularly go around to their house after school, when the brother was at work and rifle through his record collection. Playing singles, but mainly albums that caught our eye, or that we'd heard about, but had never actually heard.
It was like a mini voyage of discovery and a musical education too.

You have to remember that back in the 1970's and even beyond, it wasn't that easy to hear new music. There were few places where new music could be heard. In the UK there were far fewer tv and radio stations than there are now. It was pretty much the BBC or nothing.
For rock music fans, there were some shows on Radio 1 that catered for that genre of music, or for songs that weren't already a hit, but not many. TV was even more limited, with only The Old Grey Whistle Test really catering for non Pop music fans.
In these days of MTV, Commercial Radio and the Internet, it is very easy to forget that things were once very different for vinyl hungry music fans. Now, some people moan that there is just too much choice. You can please some of the people some of the time, but.....

"Stuck In The Middle With You" has always been a favourite song of mine, from right back when i first heard it in 1972.
Like most people who knew the song, including i suspect Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan themselves, i was very surprised when the song re-emerged in 1992 in Quentin Tarantino's movie Reservoir Dogs.
I've never actually seen the whole of the movie and have never watched THAT scene in which "Stuck In The Middle With You' is included. So, i'm not sure of the impact that it had at that time.

What i do know though, is that being featured in Reservoir Dogs showcased the song to a whole new audience, 30 years after its original release. It's amazing how often that happens, but i think it happened for a very good reason.
As i've mentioned before, many of those songs from the 1970's still sound great today. 'Stuck In The Middle With You' is certainly one that does and i expect people will be listening to it for many more years to come.

Sadly, Gerry Rafferty died on 4th January 2011 from liver failure, mainly as a result of his alcoholism.
At least his songs live on.

The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore by Keane

So far i've written about the first vinyl single that i ever bought and the first one that i ever owned. Now, it's time to tell you about the last single that i acquired and one that i've never played.
I say acquired because i didn't actually buy it. It comes under that category of free singles that are given away by bands for their fans, or by record labels for promotional purposes.
I have several vinyl singles like this and may well talk about some others over time.

"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" by Keane is, as i'm sure many people are already aware, a cover version.
The song, written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, was originally a solo hit for Frankie Valli in 1965. Crewe and Gaudio wrote many songs for both Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.
Although "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" has been recorded by many artists, including Cher. Probably the most famous version is the one by The Walker Brothers, which was number one in the UK in 1966.

The version by Keane was recorded in 2004 and was originally meant as a download only release. Quite a revolutionary idea back then. It was then given to the War Child foundation, of whom Keane are patrons, so that it could be downloaded from the War Child website. This was in 2005.

The 7" vinyl single version that i own, was given away to some fans of the band in 2005 and was limited to only 1,000 copies, all individually numbered. It was done as a thank you to early fans of the band who had helped them with their initial success.You can see from the photo above, that my copy is number '0814'.
The vinyl single came with a copy of a hand written note, written and signed by the band members. The note starts with the words "Thanks for all your love and support during the last year".

So, how did i come to get my hands on such a limited edition single?
Well, Keane come from the town of Battle, scene of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Battle is only 7 miles from where i live. So, i knew a bit about the band from a fairly early stage. Although they never played locally, concentrating their efforts instead on London. A strategy that proved to be a good one.

Strangely, seeing as how new a band Keane are, i do actually have some more vinyl 7" 45's by them. Some of their single releases also came out in numbered limited edition vinyl as well. I have a copy of "Somewhere Only We Know" (Number 1635) and, for some unknown reason, 2 copies of "Everybody's Changing" (Numbers 1033 and 2606). Both singles were released in 2004.

I do also have some other rarities by them. I have a copy, on CD, of the first ever release of their song "This Is The Last Time". Which was originally released in 2003 on the Fierce Panda record label.

I also have a 6 track promo sampler CD of Keane's first album, Hopes And Fears. It was sent to me by the record company, prior to the album release and has the serial number '0005' on both the CD and the cover. It also came with a note saying that the CD was copy protected, water marked and that my name had been logged for security reasons!

I have only seen Keane live twice. The second time was in June 2005 at a local music festival, a gig i ended up reviewing for the local paper. It was very much a homecoming gig for a band who had had a huge amount of success over the past year. I remember that the gig was only a couple of days before Keane's appearence, in front of a worldwide audience of many millions, at Live 8.

The first time i saw them was in rather different circumstances and was just before their breakthrough single, "Somewhere Only We Know", was released in February 2004. The gig was on 7th February.
The venue was the "Underground Theatre" in Eastbourne, just 15 miles from Hastings and i still have my ticket. I doubt that there were more than 50 people in the small theatre and i got the impression that most of them were family and friends anyway.
Something that sticks in my mind from the gig was that i was right at the front, actually leaning on the stage, during the whole gig. Not knowing that Keane were just about to come on, i'd wandered down to the front to have a look at the gear that the band were going to use. It was at that moment that Keane walked on stage, so i thought i'd stay right where i was. A very good decision on my part i think.

Well, Keane have certainly come a long way since that day, selling over 10 million albums so far.
Their fifth album, Strangeland, was released in  May 2012 and in common with all of their previous 4 albums, it went to number one in the UK album charts.
Apparently, only one other band have ever managed that same feat....... The Beatles.
I think that fact proves that this is definitely a case of local lads making good.

Postscript:
Guess what? I've now remembered that i have actually seen Keane a third time.
This third occasion was between the two gigs mentioned above. I have no idea how i came to forget this third gig, as it was a good one, just like the other two.
The gig, once again, took place in Eastbourne. This time though it was at the Winter Garden on 8th May 2004. I don't remember a huge amount about the gig except that it took place just at the time that "Hopes And Fears" was released and that it was a standing only gig. There were certainly far more people there than at the previous Eastbourne gig, just a few months before.
The one thing that does stick in mind is walking down a road, near to the venue, prior to the gig and walking right past Tim Rice-Oxley, of Keane. I wish i'd said "hello" now.

Life On Mars? by David Bowie

Seeing as the last post in this blog was about Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 moon landing, i thought it might be appropriate to continue with the space theme.
For me, it was very easy to decide which space themed song to choose. Especially in the light of NASA's current Curiosity mission.

"Life On Mars" by David Bowie was released on 22nd June, 1973 and reached number 3 in the UK charts. The song first appeared on Bowie's album Hunky Dory, which came out in December 1971.
"Life On Mars?" features piano by Rick Wakeman, of the band Yes. Rick Wakeman was a well known session musician and also played on the David Bowie songs "Changes" and "Oh! You Pretty Things", both from the same Hunky Dory album.

At that time, single releases from David Bowie didn't seem to follow any sensible, or logical pattern. The previous few single releases had all been from Bowie's album Aladdin Sane, which came out in April 1973, prior to the release of "Life On Mars?'.
In fact another album, the classic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1973), had come out between Hunky Dory and Aladdin Sane.
To further add to the confusion, the B Side of "Life On Mars?" is the title track from David Bowie's 3rd album "The Man Who Sold The World". Which was also released, in the UK, in 1971.
As to why tracks were released in this seemingly haphazard way, i have no idea. But, this is David Bowie we're talking about here, so maybe all this confusion shouldn't surprise us too much?

I can still remember seeing David Bowie for the very first time. He was appearing on the UK tv show Top Of The Pops, playing his single "Starman". This would have been in July of 1972.
I used to watch Top Of The Pops avidly at that time. I remember it being on a Thursday evening and it was a real highlight of the week for me and for many of my school friends too.

For some reason, i often associate Top Of The Pops and Thursday evenings from that time, with fish and chips and haircuts.
Why?
Well, Thursday was the evening that a mobile fish and chip van used to come around my area and it used to stop just outside my house. We often used to go out to the van and get our dinner from it. I seem to remember that it was very popular with other local residents too and there was often a queue.

As for the haircuts. Well, a very reasonably priced barber used to set up shop at a local social club, near to my home, also on a Thursday evening. So, i was sent up there every few weeks, by my father, to have my hair cut. Every time trying desperately to get as little cut off, as i felt i could safely get away with.
But, my walk to get my hair cut never happened until after Top Of The Pops had finished. Yes, it was that important to a teenager of 14 years old.

Seeing David Bowie perform "Starman" that evening, made a real impression on me. Maybe it was the fact that the song is a little different to most of the songs around at that time? It is a largely acoustic song, which did set it apart. It is, of course, yet another song about space travel and astronauts. I'm sure that must have had something to do with it as well?

I think i can safely say that "Life On Mars?" and "Starman" are still my favourite two David Bowie tracks. That period is certainly his best, in my humble opinion.
Having said that, as you can see from the date written on the front cover of "Life On Mars?" above, i didn't actually get around to buying the single until 24th August, 1974. And i never did buy the single of "Starman".
Don't worry, i have an explanation.

As i mentioned in the very first post in this Vinyl Junkie blog, i was a big fan of the band T. Rex at this time. I was also still at school and therefore had very little money at my disposal. So, any money available to buy records would have gone on those favoured T. Rex singles. Of which there were a steady stream back in 1972/3.

I left school and started work in July of 1974.
As mentioned above, i bought "Life On Mars?" in August of 1974, just at the time when my first pay packets were starting to roll in. I may not have been earning a huge amount of money at that time. But, a fair proportion of that money would have been spent on records. Especially, some of those singles that i'd not been able to buy in the past, through lack of money.
How i came to get my hands on some of these older singles is a story in itself and will be covered in a future post.

Other David Bowie vinyl singles that i still own from that period are, "The Jean Genie" (1972), "Rebel Rebel" (Which i have as an American import from 1973) and "Rock And Roll Suicide" (1974).
All of these were also bought after i had started work, regardless of when they had been released.

David Bowie is one of those artists that i regularly listen to, especially his music from this period. I can't pretend to have liked everything that he's done. But, "Ziggy Stardust" is still one of my favourite albums of all time and "Life On Mars?" itself, is right up there amongst my favourite ever singles.

Like so much of the music of this era, it's not just the music itself that i care about, as good as it is. But, also the memories that it stirs and brings back again. After all, our teenage years are often some of our most eventful aren't they?

Music has a way of doing that to most people. It can instantly transport us back to bygone days and conjure up long forgotten images and maybe not always good ones either?
But "Life On Mars?" brings back only memories of good times, for me at least. That's probably why it gets played so often?

Man On The Moon

Due to the recent sad death of Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong, i though i'd take a little sidetrack with this trawl through my vinyl singles.

This is indeed a 45rpm single release, but it is obviously a little different to "normal" releases. For a start it contains no music whatsoever, just speech.

As you may already have guessed, this single was a souvenir release. Pressed exclusively for the, now extinct, News Of The World newspaper here in the UK.
It came out on the Philips label, with a serial number of '88457 DE' and is from 1969, the year of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

As i have mentioned in a YouTube video that i recorded yesterday, i was 11 years old at the time of the Apollo 11 mission. So, it had a profound effect on me, as indeed did the whole of the NASA space program.
For my personal memories of the Apollo 11 moon landing please watch the aforementioned video.

I suspect that this souvenir single was bought for me by my parents, as i was an avid watcher of all things NASA and Apollo back in 1969.
But, it wasn't just any ordinary single, as you can see from this photo of some of what elsecame with it:

Apart from the actual single itself, which was double sided and played at 45rpm, there were two fold out inserts. You can see the one that includes a photo of the Apollo 11 Saturn 5 rocket launch, above. The other included the front cover shot, the photo of the three Apollo 11 astronauts seen above and also a picture of "Eagle", the Apollo 11 Lunar Module.

Also seen above, is the fold out insert that had the complete transcript of the contents of the single printed onto it. The single was basically edited recordings of the Apollo 11 mission.
It starts with a recording of part of U.S President John F Kennedy's famous speech committing the USA to go to the moon in the 1960's

Other contents include the launch of Apollo 11, the lunar landing and then coverage of that historic first ever moon walk by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. This is done by using the audio commentary from Mission Control at the time and also communication between them and the astronauts themselves. It even includes audio of the phone call made by President Richard Nixon to Armstrong and Aldrin during their moon walk.

As an added bonus, the other side of the fold out inserts includes more information about the mission. Including this diagram of the trajectory of the Apollo 11 space craft, on its way to the moon and back.

I can remember playing this single many, many times and used to be able to recite much of the dialogue included on it. I could still, quite probably, do that now.
Whenever i hear, or see footage of that historic mission i sometimes find myself reciting the dialogue in my head.
Well, it was one of those once in a lifetime experiences wasn't it? One that i'm very pleased to have lived through and also to have watched live, as it actually happened.

I have no idea what, if anything, this single might be worth, especially in the light of Neil Armstrong's death. But, i do know that it is something that i would never want to part with.
It holds far too many treasured memories for me to do that.
It really is a little slice of history, imprinted onto vinyl.